From what I gather, int he United States, 13 states have placed restrictions on the construction of new nuclear power facilities: California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

Minnesota, however, is the only state which has adopted an outright ban on the construction of new nuclear power facilities.

But again, getting back to Japan, the Japanese government is back on track pursuing the re-start of nuclear power again. Go figure.

I agree with you, Frank. Matter of fact, as I read the article initially, I could only marvel at how everyone seems to have "tunnel memory." Fukushima was not all that long ago, but when it comes to hyping up EVs, and creating conspiracy theories as to why they aren't more successful, suddenly all the other counterbalancing considerations are conveniently forgotten.

Rick, there are no infrastructure issues at all, if the H2 is extracted from a hydrocarbon fuel on board the vehicle. I think that attempting to store the H2 on board, as a compressed gas, is a wasteful proposition.

Am I the only one who finds it ironic that Vermont tops the list only because Vermont leads the nation in utilization of nuclear power to generate electricity? Nuclear fission produces zero carbon emissions, so it is the greenest form of electricity generation, right? Try selling that one to the public!

I'm glad to finally see a report that comprehends the carbon cost of manufacturing an EV, and the resulting carbon deficit that takes many miles of driving to recover. At the very least, it focuses attention on the fact that there is much more needed for making EVs greener than simply more renewable sources for electricity.

@PatK a Honda VC said at an event I attended a year or so ago hydrogen is still seen as a viable contender in the more distant future and they were doing research on it, though there are infrastructure issues.

Hold on though. It's probably true that, as of now, there aren't enough EVs to make a big diff with respect to taxes. But clearly EV owners are just as responsible for funding road construction and maintenance as are owners of any other vehicle that uses the roads. The gasoline tax works very well for this, as it responds not only how much you drive, but also to some extent on what kind of a pig you drive. The heavier the behemoth, the more it stresses roads.

Before getting mired in conspiracy theories, roads don't get built for free. Since the gas tax is a major source of this funding, EVs would have to pay according to some kind of similar mechanism.

I might have more sympathy with these objections if the savings in gasoline were caused by people driving a lot fewer miles than in the past, but that's not the case.

@mike_m, i can see your concern. Charging EV owners to offset lost gas taxes is not only deincentivizing, but also, it is plain bad politics. The reality is that there aren't enough EVs out there to make a difference. So, it makes us wonder who are behind this move and why they are doing this.